


Books and Fevers

by moretrash



Series: Dads of Marmora [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Dads of Marmora (Voltron), SHOW KEITH LOVE AND SUPPORT 2K18, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 11:44:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13235025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretrash/pseuds/moretrash
Summary: Keith gets sick. Luckily, he has the best family of big purple space cats to take care of him.





	Books and Fevers

Keith really did think that it was just a cold. It was all the symptoms he normally got when he came down with one. At least, it was at first. And the mindset of 'its not that bad, so I'll just blow it off' is exactly what led him here. Crying in the middle of the night, hoping that someone would hear him and yet knowing that he was too far away from the nest that he loved so much for anyone to hear him.

He had woken up from what even he could admit was a rather fitful sleep, and instantly registered the ache in his bones. It was a symptom he always got when he was sick, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. And the vague feeling of nausea that made him just careful enough to make slow movements, lest his stomach betray him. He was cold despite the sweat that he felt on his skin. A fever, he knew. He had a pounding headache that persisted despite the dimmed lights that imitated night. His head felt fuzzy and it was hard to focus. Along with that, new symptoms popped up: pain in his jaw and a longing feeling in his chest. What was that?

He wanted his pack. Maybe the feeling was an instinct to want to be with your pack when you're vulnerable? He desperate wanted to be with them. Ulaz could help, he was a doctor. And everyone would comfort him. He wanted then so badly.

So badly that he felt tears well up in his eyes, and a soft cry for his pack leaving his lips. Deep down, he knew his room was too far away for anyone to hear him and-

Wait.

Had Antok been in yet?

Antok always came to check on him at some point in the night, if he didn't sleep in the nest. The big furry Galra was always there, without fail, every night. Had he been in yet, while Keith was asleep? He hoped not, he really wanted to see a member of his pack. 

More soft cries escaped him, hoping against hope that the largest of the Galra was coming soon. He didn't want to struggle to the nest when just sitting up made him feel dizzy and made his stomach twist. 

He didn't know how long he was sitting there. Minutes? Hours? It felt like hours but maybe that was just because he was bored. At some point, tears started to slip down his cheeks. Was that an effect of the ache in his limbs or the longing for someone to come get him?

At long last, a few soft taps on his door made him look up.

"Kit?" The voice was soft, not wanting to wake Keith should he have been asleep, but it was so very clearly Antok. Keith thought he could cry harder with relief, letting out another cry, just loud enough to be heard through the door. The result was instantaneous.

Antok opened the door, looking in on Keith with worry. He stepped inside and looked down at him.

"What's wrong, kit?" He asked. Keith sniffled and whimpered, looking up at Antok.

Antok knew something was wrong when he saw how flushed Keith was. That certainly wasn't normal for humans. He reached down and scooped Keith up. Clearly, Keith had been waiting awake for him, for anybody to come. Could he not walk? Was he injured? Why didn't he go to the nest?

Antok carried him through the hallway, frowning when Keith started shivering. He felt oddly warm, yet he was shivering. He walked faster, gently setting Keith down in the nest and reaching over to shake Ulaz awake. That was what he needed to do first, Ulaz would know what to do.

Ulaz woke up and glanced at Antok in confusion.

"What is wrong, Antok?" He asked, sitting up. Antok pointed at where Keith was trying to soak up Thace's body heat.

Ulaz reached over and gently put a hand on Keith's back. "Are you okay, Keith?" He asked. Keith shook his head.

"I don't feel very good." He said softly. Ulaz nodded a bit.

"Can you tell me what's wrong? Specifically, I mean. Nausea? Headaches?" He asked, already reaching for a variety of different medicines that Keith couldn't make heads or tails of considering they were written in Galra. 

"Yeah, headaches and nausea, and a fever, my arms and legs ache, I feel dizzy, and my jaw hurts for some reason." Keith said. Ulaz nodded and thought for a moment. 

"I'm afraid Galra don't get fevers. What exactly are they?" Ulaz asked. Keith smiled a bit.

"So, you know how the normal body temperature for a human in around ninety-eight degrees? A fever is when it goes up. It isn't very dangerous until it gets to about 104 or 105. Then its dangerous. Its normal for humans to get them when they're sick." Keith explained. Ulaz nodded and examined the medicines that he had.

"Well, I can tell you that you probably have a Galra illness. The one I think you have isn't very dangerous, but your jaw hurts because it causes pain in your fangs, but you don't have fangs. Of course, I have no clue how it would affect you, considering that you aren't fully Galra. I also have no idea how these medicines will react to your hybrid body, either. They may be too strong for humans and cause an adverse reaction. I'm afraid that you'll have to go without medicine just until I can do research on this and give you the correct dosage." Ulaz said. Keith nodded, tired. He watched Ulaz leave the room, knowing that he was probably going to his lab to study on the correct dosage of medicine for his hybrid body.

Part of Keith felt guilty that he was keeping Ulaz up so late. He deserved rest, too. But another part of him felt so incredibly warm and loved at the idea that Ulaz would give up sleep to make sure he got medicine. He felt wanted and valued.

Despite all this, the lights still kept up, the light oounding into his skull and making his brain feel like it was throbbing. Antok sat down next to Keith. "If you have a headache, you could try making a burrow and seeing if that helps? The nest covering the lights might help." He said.

Keith tilted his head in confusion. Seeing this, Antok built up pillows and blankets until there was a small, caved in structure in the nest, big enough for Keith to fit into. Now Keith understood what he had meant. He smiled and crawled in, the cieling of the structure blocking out a majority of the light. It did wonders for his headache, and he smiled gratefully at Antok.

He draped his favorite blankets in the nest over himself, curling up to Antok's warm body. He needed sleep if he was going to get over this soon, he supposed. And it was still night, so he might as well get some sleep.

-

When Thace woke up that morning, he certainly didn't think it would be to the sight of Keith's flushed, ill form being fed some sort of broth by Antok. He scooted close and rested a hand on Keith's back in worry.

"What is wrong?" Thace asked, alarmed by the heat coming off of Keith.

"The kit is ill." Antok explained simply, urging Keith to take another spoonful of the broth.

"And the broth? That's hardly a breakfast meal. Or a meal at all." Thace pointed out, curious.

"Human stomachs are sensitive as it is, and Keith feels nauseous, so this is really the only thing we can give him that he can hold down. That, and water, of course." Antok said.

Thace nodded and gently ran his claws through Keith's sweaty hair. "Where's Kolivan and Ulaz?" He asked. "Surely they wouldn't abandon a sick kit."

"They didn't. Ulaz is studying human biology compared to Galran biology so he can give Keith the correct dosage of medicine. And Kolivan is getting some books for Keith to read so he doesn't 'bore himself to death' as he puts it." Antok explained, setting the bowl of broth aside when Keith made it clear that he wasn't up to eating any more of it.

Thace nodded and let Keith lean against him, just in time for Kolivan to come into the room with a few books. Written completely in Galra. Thace smiled a bit.

"Kolivan, you do realize that Keith can't read Galra?" He asked. Kolivan shrugged a bit.

"Its important for him to learn it anyway. Now would be as good a time as ever." Kolivan said.

"Would he even remember it? From what I can tell, Keith has been sort of... out of it for a while. He said that its normal for sick humans." Antok piped up. "But I suppose it couldn't hurt to try."

Keith nodded excitedly. He had wanted to understand the language that he heard the blades speaking in.

Kolivan sat down next to Keith's blanket cave, settling the book so that Keith could see the pages. He patiently explained what each word was and how to pronounce it. He waited until Keith was able to read and translate a few sentences before moving onto the next few. They sat there for several hours, Keith simply content to learn the language, even though he wasn't catching on as quickly as he clearly would have liked.

-

When Ulaz walked in with the correct dosage of medicines around lunchtime, he was slightly surprised at what he saw.

Kolivan was sitting next to Keith, reading out loud from a book that Ulaz was fairly sure was for children. And keith was copying him, trying to fit his mouth around the foreign words and symbols.

Thace was feeding Keith another bowl of the broth. Good, it seemed like they were making sure Keith recieved proper nutririon.

Antok was grooming Keith, cleaning off the sweat and making sure his hair was out of his face.

They were doting in Keith. He didn't blame them, he had been worried sick about the kit since he had been woken up. But it seemed like Keith had been in capable, only slightly panicked hands. Keith was so fragile compared to them, it seemed as though something that was harmless to them could kill him. And it probably could.

He sat down next to Keith and smiled gently, pulling his attention away from the book.

"I have some medicine for you. They'll probably make you sleep for a bit, and they'll taste pretty awful even by Galra standards, but they will make you feel better." He said, handing Keith the medicine. Keith nodded and took the medicine, reacting only slightly to the taste.

He settled down again in his cave of blankets, yawning and curling up. The other four curled up around him, determined to keep him warm and safe through the duration of his illness.

Keith found himself falling asleep, encased in four different embraces.

He knew that he wouldn't be leaving the nest for a few days, even if he was miraculously better when he woke up.

Strangely, he found that he didn't mind.


End file.
